Thursday 11th May 2017

One-millionth Porsche 911 produced

Well it's green and manual, so it's probably for the best that Porsche isn't selling it...

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Mention the figure 'one million' alongside the Porsche 911 and, in 2017, the natural assumption might be that it relates to a depressingly high asking price for a particularly coveted variant. This time, however, it is not: today it marks the fact that one million 911s have now been made.

One for the bad parking thread

The millionth car is Porsche's homage to the original 911 of 1963, using a 991.2 Carrera S as its base. Therefore it has special order paint (Irish Green), wood trim, houndstooth upholstery and - goodness gracious - a manual gearbox. Remember those? Note as well the gold badges and silver accents. Looks quite good as 'regular' 911s go, but that's just one opinion...

Naturally the occasion is being used by Porsche to mark just why the 911 is so important to its continued success, but some of the stats associated with it really are remarkable: more than 70 per cent of all 911s ever built are said to be ready to drive today, for example. On top of that, more than 15,000 races have been won using 911s. Wonder how many of those have been with a manual gearbox? Porsche is also keen to point out that 32,365 911s were delivered last year; perhaps a less notable stat than the others, but evidence of the car's continued success. It would be interesting to see how many of those are manual too...

This car will be kept at the Porsche Museum, though not before a world tour this year taking in America, China and the Nurburgring. Congratulations then 911, a million up in 54 years and still going strong. Here's to the next half a century!

[dgmx5]

In Irish Green and at that particular angle, the rear quarter of the cover photo looks distinctly Astonesque to my eye... not something I would ever have expected to think with a 911. I guess that is why Irish Green is a "special order paint".

Edited by dgmx5 on Thursday 11th May 13:21

[j_s14a]

Great spec car... but those wheels are awful. Straight out of Halfords.

[corcoran]

"Still would".

[PhantomPH]

j_s14a said:

Great spec car... but those wheels are awful. Straight out of Halfords.

It's crying out for Fuchs.

[Over over under steer]

PhantomPH said:

j_s14a said:

Great spec car... but those wheels are awful. Straight out of Halfords.

It's crying out for Fuchs.

I think you meant, 'It's crying out for a good Fuch'ing'! Lovely colour combination with the gold badges, though agree the wheels are a little bit of a let down. Love the steering wheel too.

[Filibuster]

PhantomPH said:

j_s14a said:

Great spec car... but those wheels are awful. Straight out of Halfords.

It's crying out for Fuchs.

What the both of you said!!

I even like the mat wood trim! Never would have thought that possible...
Also the retro gold "Porsche" and "911" badge and the mat nickel (?) door surround look ace! It al comes together beautifully!

Well, apart for the wheels sadly... As you say, some (silver) Fuchs in 19" would suit it perfectly...

[pppppppppppppppp]

I disagree about the Fuchs wheels. They look great with the big fat tyres you used to get but not so much on huge wheels. Unlike BBS, for example, which look better on larger wheels. But each to their own of course.

I do love that green though and dark green cars in general. Wish there were more of them. There's a green XK8 often parked by the Thames near where I live and despite being over 15 years old it looks ace.

Can I also say it's nice to have a Porsche article on Pistonheads for a change ;-)

[PhantomPH]

I have always liked the Fuchs-style wheels. Was planning on getting some for my '58 Bug, but we went for solid steels with white walls instead...but I digress...one of the best looking 911's in years was the Sport Classic and that made the Fuchs-style look absolutely right again. I think a similar (as someone above stated - silver?) look would really work well on this car. Especially with the gold badges.

Wonder if they would do one in the Porsche 356 Speedster era silver with gold badges and Fuchs alloys, just for me.

[spyker138]

I like the green. Not sure if they make money, what with the SUV's subsidizing them somewhat, but good that they exist. I wish they'd stop all the pain of supplying the GT3/RS/R's as the last thing I will ever do is grovel to a Porsche dealer, it's bad enough having to wander around smug showroom. Still I suppose if I wanted a green C2 then I could order it no trouble.

Interesting that the other iconic car that's stood the test of time, the Corvette, hit a million in 1992 and sold 40k cars last year, all with down to earth showrooms (actually a corner of a Chevy dealer), an easy to navigate and afford options list and no restrictions on the Z06 at all.

[jayemm89]

Am I the only person who feels that the worst possible way of celebrating 50 years of progress, is by trying to make a current car look really similar to the one you made 50 years ago... when it's never going to be?

I think Porsche should be looking forwards, not backwards.

[RobM77]

I can't help but wonder if it's a pity that the millionth 911 is a nod to the past and not a hint of the future. A nod to the past is a safer marketing exercise I suppose..

Oh, and that wooden steering wheel looks hideous!

[Cotic]

I really like the colour, and the gold badges.

It needs to be called 'Kermit' though.

[m444ttb]

RobM77 said:

I can't help but wonder if it's a pity that the millionth 911 is a nod to the past and not a hint of the future. A nod to the past is a safer marketing exercise I suppose..

An interesting point. Perhaps a concept '2 millionth' 911 might have been more interesting. This is still nice though.

[Cacatous]

I wonder who bought nr. 1000001? I'd want a custom badge for that!

[Cotic]

Cacatous said:

I wonder who bought nr. 1000001? I'd want a custom badge for that!

I wonder who had number '911911'? Or better still, '991911'... They must have made 10,000 991's by now?

[Oddball RS]

At first glimpse I thought it was a Cayman.

[Dave Hedgehog]

Cacatous said:

I wonder who bought nr. 1000001? I'd want a custom badge for that!

dont worry there will be a 'limited' edition run along shortly to celebrate the m'th 911

all presold 2 years ago of course, but yours for a very reasonable 120k over list

[Hungrymc]

Hmmm. I like 911s but not sure about the colour / badges / mirror caps etc. Looks a bit of a confused retro mash up with a bit of Audi thrown in (the mirrors). The steering wheel is a lovely thing, but it has to be the wrong type of car for it. The wheels are a bit rip-speed to my eye as well.

ETA: 1,000,000....Off course, its more "triggers new broom" than triggers new broom was.

Having said all that, I am colour blind and have no taste, so I'm sure most will love it. Still a lovely car underneath all the dodgy styling choices.

Edited by Hungrymc on Thursday 11th May 16:42

[Dale487]

spyker138 said:

I like the green. Not sure if they make money, what with the SUV's subsidizing them somewhat, but good that they exist. I wish they'd stop all the pain of supplying the GT3/RS/R's as the last thing I will ever do is grovel to a Porsche dealer, it's bad enough having to wander around smug showroom. Still I suppose if I wanted a green C2 then I could order it no trouble.

Interesting that the other iconic car that's stood the test of time, the Corvette, hit a million in 1992 and sold 40k cars last year, all with down to earth showrooms (actually a corner of a Chevy dealer), an easy to navigate and afford options list and no restrictions on the Z06 at all.

You Tuber Nick Murray wanted a green 991.2 ( not sure if it was Irish Green or just similar) but due to the length of time on the Paint to Sample (9 months plus I think) as it wasn't tested & signed off by Porsche he opted for blue. So walk into a dealer with £100k & ordering a green 911 ain't that simple.

I really like the looks of this, even the wood - better than the Sports Classic & a bit more interesting than the 50th Anniversary & a manual to boot.

[rudler]

Irish Green, yes please!